So Where's the Corruption These Days? The Most Corrupt Countries

Sure, there's the revolving door between K Street and congressional offices, but it's important to keep in mind that there's a totally different breed of corruption in places like Russia and Somalia.

The map above, from Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2010, shows the most—and least—corrupt countries in the world, as judged by experts and business leaders (methodology here). Dark red is more corrupt and light yellow is less corrupt. The five most corrupt countries are Somalia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Uzbekistan. The least corrupt are Denmark, New Zealand, and Singapore, Finland, and Sweden.

Corruption doesn't just make a government unfair. It also makes it hard to attract investment and tackle problems like climate change and poverty.